Tom Richmond – A MADman Gives a Recent MAD Timeline and a Copyright Tutorial

Earlier this month Tom Richmond gave a timeline of MAD magazine’s past eight years
– from New York-based original material to Burbank-produced (mostly) reprint issues.

October 2013– DC Comics announces they are closing their New York offices…

Feb 2018MAD #550 drops on news stands. This is the final New York produced issue…

February 2021- MAD #18 is released. A “Spy vs. Spy” tribute issue featuring the final original Peter Kuper Spy vs. Spy.

Read Tom’s blog post to fill in a lot of dates between those shown above, plus endnotes.
This is the clearest rundown to date of the changes that have happened to MAD magazine.


© E.C. Publications, Inc.

Then, this past Sunday, he is asked who owns his work as one of The Usual Gang of Idiots.  Tom replies with a great lesson on copyright in relation to his MAD work and his freelance assignments.

He gives a paragraph to succinctly define various situations(below).

One Time Copyright Use
Long Term Copyright Use
Full Copyrights
Work for Hire

And then closes with a summation on how these circumstances transfer to reality.

Both posts are fascinating.

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